That sound you hear is Luke Scott’s agent and most of the Orioles’ front office simultaneously slapping their hands to their foreheads in exasperation as they read Sam Mellinger’s column in today’s Kansas City Star. You know, the one in which Luke Scott continues to be a birther despite the release of Obama’s birth certificate:

“(President Obama’s) birth certificate has yet to be validated … If they can counterfeit $100 bills, I think it’s a million times easier to counterfeit a birth certificate, if you ask me. So, all it is, let’s just see if it’s real. Anybody can produce a document, so let’s check it out.”

The rest of Mellinger’s column is, as usually, pretty sharp. Like me, he’s not going to lose sleep that there are people like Luke Scott playing baseball for a living. I mean, they’re paid to hit and throw the ball, not hold forth on the topics of the day.

But even so, you can’t help but marvel at the crazy seeping from his pores.

With Odorizzi, the Twins finally have the front-end starter they’ve been seeking all winter. It’s a bargain deal as well, as the 27-year-old righty is under contract through 2019 and didn’t require the club to part with any of their top-shelf prospects in the trade. Odorizzi will be looking to stage a comeback in 2018 after a dismal performance with the Rays last year, during which he eked out a career-worst 4.14 ERA, 3.8 BB/9 and 8.0 SO/9 through 143 1/3 innings.

Palacios, 21, ranked no. 27 in the Twins’ system last season. He split his year between Single-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers, raking a combined .296/.333/.454 with 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 539 plate appearances. He’s expected to continue developing at shortstop, though he’s also seen limited time at second and third base during his four-year career in the minors.